Mark 8

8 ¹In those days, again a large crowd gathered with nothing to eat. Jesus called his disciples and said,

²"I feel compassion for the crowd—they've been with me three days now and have nothing to eat. ³If I send them home hungry, they'll collapse on the way—some have come from far off."

⁴And his disciples answered him, "How can anyone feed these people with bread here in the wilderness?"

⁵And he asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven."

⁶He told the crowd to sit on the ground, took the seven loaves, gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to serve to the people; and they served the crowd. ⁷They also had a few small fish; after blessing them, he told the disciples to serve these to the people. ⁸And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets of the leftover pieces. ⁹About 4,000 people were there. And he sent them away.

¹⁰Then immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

A Generation Demanding Signs

¹¹The Pharisees came and began debating with him, testing him by demanding a sign from heaven.

¹²Sighing deeply in his spirit, he said, "Why does this generation demand a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation."

¹³And he left them, got back into the boat, and went to the other side.

Beware the Leaven of the Pharisees

¹⁴They'd forgotten to bring bread—only one loaf was with them in the boat.

¹⁵And he warned them, "Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod."

¹⁶And they began discussing with one another that they had no bread.

¹⁷Knowing this, Jesus asked, "Why discuss having no bread? Do you still not see or grasp? Are your hearts hardened? ¹⁸Having eyes, do you not see? Having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? ¹⁹When I broke the five loaves for the 5,000, how many baskets full of fragments did you collect?" They said, "Twelve."

²⁰"And when I broke the seven for the 4,000, how many basketfuls of broken pieces did you gather?" They said, "Seven."

²¹And he said to them, "Do you still not understand?"

A Blind Man Receives His Sight

²²They came to Bethsaida, where people brought him a blind man and begged Jesus to touch the man.

²³He took the blind man's hand, led him out of the village, spit on his eyes, laid hands on him, and asked, "Do you see anything?"

²⁴He looked up and said, "I see people, but they look like trees, walking."

²⁵Then Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes again; he looked intently, was restored, and saw everything distinctly.

²⁶And he sent him home, saying, "Do not even go into the village."

Who Do You Say I Am?

²⁷Jesus and his disciples went to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?"

²⁸They told him, "John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; and others, one of the prophets."

²⁹Then he asked them, "But who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ."

³⁰And he strictly warned them not to speak about him.

The Son of Man Must Suffer

³¹He began teaching them the Son of Man must suffer much, be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise after three days. ³²He said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

³³But turning, he looked at his disciples and rebuked Peter: "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of our Father, but on the things of man."

³⁴He called the crowd and his disciples and said to them, "Whoever wants to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. ³⁵Whoever wants to save his life will lose it; whoever loses his life for my sake and the good news will save it. ³⁶What good does it do a person to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? ³⁷For what can a person give in exchange for his soul? ³⁸For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous, sinful generation—the Son of Man will be ashamed of them too when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."